Charles kelley



(No Model.)

G.KBLLBY. BILL 0F FARE INDIGATGR FOR WAITBRS.

Patented Mar. 22, 1892.

m M/ 2, Mw

N m91/ l @i Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES KELLEY, OF TORONTO, CANADA.

BILL-OF- FARE INDICATOR FOR WAITERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 471,124, dated March 22, 1892.

Application filed April 2, 1891. Serial No. 387,400. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES KELLEY, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Toronto, Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bill-of-Fare Indicators for IVaiters; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of' this specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in indicating devices for use in connection with bills of fare; and it has for its object to provide an indicatingr device vfor the use of table-waiters, by means of which1 the waiter may, by the simple manipulation of buttons controlling indicating pointers, designate upon the face of a tablet, upon which is printed a list of the articles constituting the bill of fare, the particular articles which may be ordered by a guest.

The invention has for a further object to provide in folding or book form a series of these indicating-tablets or bills of fare, each of which is provided with a separate scale and indicating-pointer in connection with a series of numbers so arranged as to permit the pointer to be adjusted so as to indicate upon the scale a particular number corresponding with the number of the seat or chair at the table which may at the time be occupied by the guest whose order may be indicated upon the particular tablet to which the scale is appended. At the top of either one, or, if pref erred, of each one of the tablets in the series7 an opening is provided, through which the name of the waiter, which is printed upon a card or slip of paper, may be disclosed.

Finally, the invention has for its essential obj ect to provide a simple and efficient means whereby it is rendered possible for a waiter to take at one time several table orders and iill them correctly without the possibility of mistake, thus avoiding the confusion and annoyance that is so frequently occasioned where several orders are taken at one time, and where the waiter depends entirely upon memory in filling them.

To these ends and to such others as the invention may pertain the same consists in the peculiar construction and in the novel combination, arrangement, and adaptation of parts,all as more fully hereinafter described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and then specifically defined in the appended claims. V

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of this specication, like letters of reference indicating the same parts throughout the several views, and in which drawings- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bill-offare indicating device embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a section upon theline as of Fig. l, the same being shown upon an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a section upon line 'y y of. Fig. l, also upon an enlarged scale.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through one of the tablets.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, A and B represent frames or cases, which are made of Celluloid, or, if preferred, of metal, though upon account of cheapness of construction and general lightness and tasty appearance I prefer to construct the frames of celluloid. These frames are in all respects alike and are hinged together at their edges, as I have indicated in l of the drawings, merely as a matter of convenience, and hence a description of a single one of the tablets or indicators will suffice in this connection. Reference therefore being had to the tablet A, it will be observed that it is provided with a central compartment open at its upper end at the end of the frame, as shown at a. This compartment is intended to receive a slip of paper, upon which is printed a list of the articles constituting the bill of fare, as shown at h. rlhe list is printed upon both faces of the slip and can be read through an opening C, formed for the purpose in the face of the tablet-frame, as shown.

Arranged at intervals along the sides of the opening C are movable indicators d, which correspond in number and relative position with the articles printed upon the slip Z). These indicators or pointers are adapted when n ot in use to be moved back beneath the frame IOO of the tablet. y Theyare each provided with a shank e, which is passed through a slot g, and at its outer end a button f is provided, by the movement of which the pointer may be moved out or back, as desired. The object and great advantage of the two rows of indicators arranged one on each side of the slip will be readily appreciated. The indicators on each side are to be placed as .close together as is possible to be done to enable one to be movedwithout interference with or movement of its neighbor, and this is so far apart that suicient space is left between the names of two articles of food for printing the nameof another article. This space is utilized bythe provision ofthe second. set ofin.- dicators on theother sidel ofthe list having a location. relative to the other,. s o,tliat an rindicator on one side comes oppositethe `space between two on the other.l I am thus enabled to have an extensive list of larticles and, which is highly desirable, without havingthe device of Aunduelength and cumbersome and to have ample space for .the Inanipulatinof each indicat`orso4 that there is no likelihood of touching or movinglan immediately adj 'acent one. With but onerowof indicators an awkward length. is unavoidable er itis necessary to crowd the indicators so closely togetheras to cause interference withY others in moving one. lf ekcessivelength is tob'e avoided and at the sametimethe indicators are to. be properly separated, then it is at theexpense of the completeness oi'I thelist of articles. i With a given length and a suitable separation of the indicators, such as in the lastinstance, mylasngementj US'GOllbleS i the capacityofthe indicator and avoids iall the disadvantages which would accrue from theuse of a single row. Y, Y 1 i Beneath the bil10,f v fare atransverse slot orf opening D is provided, thr c' u;hl which slot 'ag pointeror indicator E extends, the :saniebeing securedto a plate upon the inside of thei frame ofthe tablet, and is thus capable of being readily moved and 4set to indicate anyi one of theseveral numbers which are printed E upon the face of the tablet beneath the slot, as shown inthe drawings. 4 l l Directly above the bill ot fare the naine of the waiter, which is printed yupon afsuitab'lei slip, is displayed throughan opening F. i

The use of the device will be readily derstood. AIt is adapted to be secured to the belt worn by the waiter by means ot the cord or chainv G. The waiter inI calling upon a guest for his order first moves the indicatingpointer E, so as to indicate the number of the chair or seat occupied by the person giving the order; and then as the articles selected from the bill of fare are named by the guest the waiter moves the corresponding pointers d, out from beneath the casing, sov that when the order has been taken the arrangement of thepointers will correctly indicate the articles named in the' order. This is repeated with the next guest, using, of course, another of the several faces ot the tablet and changing the position of thevpointerv E upon the tablet used, so as to correctlydefsignate the number ojf the seater theg'uest giving the order. When several orders havethus been indicated upon the tablet, the waiter repairs to thkitherwlieie .het Odrsafafilled. as indicated upon the tablet, and when the guest has. been served the pointer'sare pushed back within the case and the tablet is again in readiness for use. j

. Having thusdescribedmy invention, what I claimto be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is;- Y- V v 1. In combination with a list f articles, the two rows of movable indicatorsk arranged one 'on each side o f ,'sai d list, so that an indicator et one rowisj opposite thefs'pace between two 'of the .other rew's, each indicator of both rows being inlinewith an article on the list, substantially as shown. o,

[2. Ifn combination with a frame having a display-space, afslip wheren is a listy of articles' removably held in said frame, the two row'sjofindicators "on bothsides of the display"spa`ce varranged so that f each indicator on one sidewill come opfp'osi'teth'e space 'between tween the other, each indicator consisting of Aa pointer portion placed on the innerside of the frame "adjacent to thefdi'splay-s'pace and .td'zpted to be moved so vas tolbe visible in said s'pac'eand withdrawn therefrom, a shank feiitend'ing outward through a slotinth'e frame, 'and a button orh'ead on the's'hank, substantially 3S .Shown desclib 1n testinionywhereof yIailix'mysignature in p'resence of two witnesses. i Y

KELLEY.

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